There’s being prepared, and then there’s flouting the state's open meetings laws.

Just prior to a Roanoke Rapids City Council meeting this week, City Manager Phyllis Lee expressed surprise at the arrival of two out-of-town newspaper reporters, reports Matt Ehlers.

In a friendly way, she inquired: “Why are you here?”

When told that council was expected to remove Randy Parton’s name from the theater the city built for him, Lee responded: “It’s not on the agenda.”

An hour later, the council rechristened The Randy Parton Theatre as The Roanoke Rapids Theatre. Immediately after the meeting, theater officials handed out a press release crafted by French West Vaughan, a Raleigh public-relations firm.

Dated the day after the meeting, it began with this statement: “City officials agreed last night to change the name of the Randy Parton Theatre to the Roanoke Rapids Theatre...”

It included this quote from Lee: “The people of Roanoke Rapids built this theatre. It’s time to put our good name on it.”

And to think — a name change wasn’t even on the agenda.